You Belong With Me
by Rockyrocks919
Summary: Annabeth, now 18, finds herself jealous of Percy's new girlfriend. Just when things seem to be looking up, Percy is kidnapped and the police seem to think Annabeth did it. Drama, tears, and romance ensue as our favorite campers search for their friend.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys I just finished editing this chapter, so I hope you like it! I wanted to make the story more realistic, and I didn't like how Shelby seemed like the stereotypical snobby popular girl, so I'm going to change her character up a bit to make it more interesting. Let me know if you have any suggestions! I'll be editing the rest of the story soon and then hopefully work on my other stories some more.

Okay, I couldn't think of a good reason why Percy and Annabeth would break up, so just for the sake of the story, let's pretend they never got together at the end of TLO. I was listening to the song You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift and thought of this, so it's pretty much like the song, except they'll go on a quest later. In this story, Percy and Annabeth are 18, in their senior year of high school, and they go to the same school. Well, here's chapter one! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Annabeth's POV

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Slam! Ugh, I swear I want to destroy my alarm clock. Of course if I did, I would be late for school every day, so that wouldn't be very wise for a child of Athena to do. I put my feet down on the wooden floor and stretched my arms. It was 7:30 and time to get ready for another day of school.

My phone vibrated from my bed side table signaling a text message. I stood and picked it up.

_Hey. You up? _It was from Percy. After we won the war, his mom decided getting him a cell phone would be fine. In fact, a lot of demigods had them now. Most of them had no idea how to use them or even text, so they would constantly bug me with questions about every little thing. It was worse after I taught Travis and Connor to text. Of course, they showed everyone else and then I was getting random messages every five seconds with smiley faces and updates on what they were doing. Luckily, for both the sake of my phone bill and my sanity, that stage had passed after about a week.

_Yeah. _I replied. He texted me every morning to make sure I hadn't forgotten to set my alarm clock and over slept. It didn't happen much, but it was always good to be safe. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and then jumped in the shower. I was singing the chorus to You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift and thinking of Percy when suddenly the water went cold.

"Matthew! Bobby! Cut it out!" I shouted. Gods, they always do this. My ten year old brothers enjoyed running the hot water in their bathroom sink just so the water in the shower will turn cold. They do this practically every morning and it drives me nuts. I've tried telling my dad, but he and my step mom think they're just little angels.

I got out of the shower and slid on my towel. When I opened the door, I could hear my brothers giggling in my room.

"Get out! Both of you!" I shouted at them. They ran out of my room, still giggling. I looked around my room to see what was missing or broken, but everything looked just like I'd left it when I got in the shower.

I walked over to my closet and looked through my shirts. _Where is it?_ Finally I found the one I was looking for: a purple Aeropostale T-shirt. I grabbed a faded pair of jeans, some underwear, and a bra and changed out of my pajamas. I was straightening my shirt out when I heard my phone buzz and looked to see another text from Percy.

_Umm... that's sort of personal._ What was he talking about? I hadn't sent him anything after I told him I was awake. Maybe he meant to text someone else? I looked at my message history.

_Be there in 20 min._ Percy had sent at 7:50, which was ten minutes ago.

_Hey Percy ;) Whatcha doing? *smoochy smoochy* _"I" had replied. What the heck?

_Getting ready for school… who is this?_

_Annabeth. Are you a boxers or briefs sort of guy?;)_

_Umm... that's sort of personal._

"Bobby! Matthew! You guys are _so_ dead!" I shouted. I wanted to run in there and beat them up, but then I remembered that I had only ten minutes to finish getting ready.

I picked up my hair dryer and set it back down a few minutes later when my hair was almost dry. I brushed through it real quick and then put it in a ponytail.

I ran downstairs and poured a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch cereal. I sat down across from my dad, who was reading the newspaper and drinking a glass of coffee. Matthew was next to him and Bobby was sitting next to me. They were both grinning and looking at me, trying to make me explode and get in trouble.

"Not gonna happen," I told them before going back to gulping down my cereal.

"Someone's in a rush this morning." my step mom commented as she put bread in the toaster.

"She's going to see a boy." Bobby told her before I could reply.

"Really?" My dad said, sounding interested. "You didn't tell me about this, Annie. What's his name?" I glared angrily at Bobby and he smirked.

"It's just Percy, Dad."

His eyebrows shot up. "You're dating him now?"

I nearly choked on my cereal and the twins broke into fits of laughter. "No! He's just a friend."

"Your _best _friend," Matthew said and he gave Bobby a fist bump. There was a honk outside and I stood before anyone else could say anything.

"I have to go." I said. I picked up my backpack from where I set it by the front door and started to turn the handle.

"Annabeth!" my stepmom said.

"What?" I asked and turned around.

"Shoes." I looked down and realized I'd forgotten to put my shoes on. I ran upstairs and slid on a pair of plain ankle high socks. I grabbed my favorite sneakers and tried to put them on as I hopped to the stairs. I heard another honk and tried to go quicker, but ended up falling down.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" It was my dad calling from downstairs. I finished putting my shoes on and stood up again.

"I'm fine!" I shouted as I hurried down the stairs. I was about to open the door when my dad's voice stopped me.

"Wait a second, young lady," he said as he stood up from his chair. I sighed and waited for him to give me a speech about something that didn't even make any sense. "I want to have a talk with this boy before you two start getting serious. I'm not sure I like the idea of-"

"Oh my gods!" I threw my head back in exasperation. "Percy is just a friend. A FRIEND! He already has a girlfriend, anyways, so nothing is going to happen between us! Okay?"

He nodded and sat back down. It's times like this when I really wish I had been born into another family. I opened the door and walked to Percy's car. It was an old blue one his stepdad got him for his eighteenth birthday. It was May now, so he's had it for almost a year, but he kept it clean, so it looked new as a five year old car could.

"What took you so long?" he asked as I opened the passenger door. "I thought I was going to have to get out and get you."

"Sorry, I forgot my shoes." _And my crazy family thinks that we're dating,_ I laughed.

"And you call _me_ a Seaweed Brain." He was wearing a faded green t-shirt and blue jeans. As always, he was wearing tennis shoes; the ones he had on today were white with blue-green stripes going down the sides.

"Because you are one! You know, Percy-" I had turned my head back to the house and saw my dad coming out.

"Oh, gods," I sighed. The twins must have convinced him to come out, anyway. If he talked to Percy, it would just make things awkward and I'd rather not have that happen.

"Hey, your dad is coming out."

"Come on, Percy. Drive!"

"But your dad-"

"Go," I looked him straight in the eye and he understood that I wasn't joking around. He pressed his foot on the gas and we sped away before my dad had a chance to make it down the driveway. I looked back to see him waving his arms angrily and knew I'd have to pay for it later, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about Percy getting the wrong idea. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be his girlfriend, but that just wasn't going to happen and I'd rather keep him as a friend than ruin it.

"Hey," Percy said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Are you ready for graduation? Only two more weeks and we'll be out of high school!"

"I've been counting down the days 'til I leave my dad's house for years. Moving out is going to be great," I tried to sound lighthearted, but it was hard after what had happened that morning. My dad pretty much ignored me until it came to something that got me in trouble or embarrassing matters, such as my friendship with Percy. My stepmom had never liked me much and always believed that Bobby and Matthew, who made it their goal to ruin my life, were telling the truth. Yeah, moving out would be the best part of graduating.

"They're not that bad," Percy reassured me.

I snorted. "You just say that because you don't have to live with them. The twins are always invading my personal space and taking my cell phone."

"Like this morning?"

Oh, gods, I had completely forgotten to explain the whole "boxers or briefs" question! He must have seen the look on my face because he laughed before I could figure out what to say.

"It's all right, Annabeth, I know it wasn't you. You're one of my best friends; don't you think I know the way you text by now? Besides," he added as an afterthought. "I typically don't get winking smiley faces and smooches from you."

"That's a good point," I couldn't help but laugh with him as I thought back to the text messages. We pulled into the school parking lot and pulled in next to a silver SUV. Oh how I hated the sight of that car! Percy opened his door.

"See you later, Annabeth!" he said as he got out. I spotted my friend Julie a few cars down and went to talk to her.

"Hey," she waved as I walked up to her. We started walking towards the school and passed the silver SUV were Percy was talking to a girl. She had long, straight brown hair and brown eyes. Her tan skin looked perfect with whatever she was wearing, which was an orange spaghetti strap shirt and dark blue skinny jeans with white sandals. She was getting out of the car and, after glancing at me, kissed Percy.

"Come on," Julie said. "There's lots of other guys out there, Annabeth. And even though Shelby's a-"

"Language," I reminded her before she went on, already knowing what she was about to say since we had this conversation all the time. Normally, I didn't mind if she called Shelby that, since I completely agreed, but she was trying to clean her language up and asked me to help, so I was doing the best I could to stop her from saying anything that wasn't PG.

She gave me an irritated look before continuing. "Even though Shelby is a _female dog_ and doesn't deserve him, that's Percy's choice. It may be a stupid choice, a _very _stupid choice, but it's his. Just give him some time; he'll come around eventually."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's not fair that she can walk in here wearing whatever she wants, but if another student walks in with shorts that are a quarter of an inch too short, they get detention and have to wear those dorky pants from the nurse's office around all day"

"I know. Just because her stepmom is the school superintendent, Shelby gets special treatment." Julie has long, black wavy hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a plain green t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and black sneakers. She was the kind of girl who didn't care what other people thought of her, and Shelby hated her. Considering the fact that Shelby's the most popular girl at school, most other people hate her too, except Percy and me. We opened the door and walked in just as the bell was ringing.

"Well," I said to Julie. "Time for another crazy day of school."

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Well there's chapter one! Please Review! Don't worry, they _will _go on a quest at some point in the story! I'm not sure how old Bobby and Matthew are supposed to be, so I just picked the age I think fit them best. Ideas are helpful! I'm not sure where I'm going with this story yet, so I might use your ideas! Thanks! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews! In case anyone's interested, I'm also working on another PJO fanfic. Oh yeah, I forgot to say in the last chapter that Julie and Annabeth have been friends since eleventh grade when Annabeth's family moved to New York and she started going to the same school as Percy. I'm not sure if anyone wanted to know that or not, but I might mention it later in the story.

Oh yeah, I think the whole story is going to be from Annabeth's point of view, so I'm not going to say it at the beginning of each chapter. I'll let you know if it's someone else's point of view. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

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Lunch time couldn't have come sooner. In biology, Mr. Skittles made us dissect frogs and I had to try my hardest not to throw up. English wasn't any better. Ms. Lima got mad at me again because I wasn't reading when we were supposed to be. I've told her ever since school started that I was dyslexic, but she didn't believe me when she saw me reading an architecture book in Greek once.

"If you can read in Greek, you should be able to read English," she'd said. In athletics Coach Foils wouldn't let us go to lunch until everyone ran three miles. Just a typical Monday.

When I got to the cafeteria, I saw Julie in line and stood behind her.

"Hey. What's for lunch?" I asked. She pointed to a girl's tray as she passed us.

"_That_," she said.

"Gross!" I said. The stuff on her tray didn't even look like food. It was brown pile of mush. I watched the girl sit down and pull a long hair out of it.

"There's no way I'm eating that whatever it is!" I declared. "Let's go eat off campus." We had an hour for lunch time and a few fast food restaurants were close by, so we would be back in plenty of time for class.

"Okay," she said and we got out of the extremely short line. As we were walking toward the door, I saw Percy coming into the cafeteria with his friend Trevor.

"Juls," I said and she turned. I pointed to the guys and raised an eyebrow in question. I knew she would be perfectly fine with Trevor coming along since she had a huge crush on him, but since we would be taking her car, I figured it would be more polite to ask permission first. She smiled and shrugged.

"Why not?" I grinned back at her and started toward Percy and Trevor, who were too caught up in their conversation to notice me.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," I said as I snuck up behind him and Trevor. He jumped and both of them turned.

"Hey, Wise Girl. What's up?" Percy asked.

"Juls and I were just wondering if you guys wanted to come to get lunch with us."

"What are they serving here?" Trevor asked. He had spiky black hair and was a little taller than me. He was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with brown flip-flops. In answer to his question, I pointed to a kid who was eating cafeteria food. Ironically, right when Trevor looked where I was pointing the kid ran over to the trash can and puked.

"Okay," he said. "I'm going with you guys."

"Me too," Percy said. A few minutes later, we were in Julie's car. Trevor was in the front with her while I sat in the back with Percy.

"Where to?" Juls asked as she turned the key.

"I'm feeling like seafood." Trevor said.

"Sounds good to me," Julie agreed.

"No!" Percy shouted and everyone looked at him.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Julie asked.

"I can't eat seafood. I-"

"He's allergic." I said, realizing that Percy didn't want to eat something he would be able to communicate with if it was alive. I wasn't sure if someone could be allergic to seafood, but it was the first thing that popped into my mind. I crossed my fingers, hoping they would buy it and just move on to another topic. "He can't eat anything that's from the ocean."

"Oh, okay." Julie said.

"Thanks," Percy mouthed and I nodded in response.

"How about fried chicken?" Trevor said. "Anyone allergic to that?" He turned around to look at Percy, who shook his head.

"Nope, it sounds fine to me. What about you, Annabeth?"

"Fried chicken is good." Julie started driving and got deep into conversation with Trevor. I just sat quietly looking out the window.

"Hey," Percy said and I jumped from surprise. "What do you think your dad wanted earlier?"

The question caught me off guard and I desperately tried to think of something logical. "I'm not sure," I said after a slight hesitation. "Maybe I forgot something inside."

"But why did you want me to drive away so fast?" Oh, gods, how was I going to get out of this? I decided the best way to do this was to play on the defensive and maybe he'd leave me alone.

"Did you seriously want to talk to my dad? You see him all the time and he never even bothers to say "hello" or "how was your day?" Now you want to take his side?" My voice was getting louder and I was starting to really sound angry. Percy put his hands up in surrender and I turned away to keep him from seeing my smile. My plan had worked. Or so I thought...

"By the way, it's boxers," he said after a few seconds.

I turned back to face him. "What the heck are you talking about, Seaweed Brain?"

"You asked if I wore boxers or briefs earlier and I didn't tell you, so I figured I might as well answer your question. I wear boxers." He shrugged it off like it was no big deal that he was telling me what kind of undergarments he wore. My jaw dropped. Was he being serious?

"What?" he asked.

"Oh my gods, Seaweed Brain, I told you my brothers sent that text."

"I know. I didn't want to tell them, but I figured if you wanted to know, then I don't really care since I've known you for so long and... I should stop talking, shouldn't I?"

I nodded and tried to think about something other than the conversation we were having. So much for avoiding awkwardness.

"Umm, guys, we're here." Julie said and I was relieved. We all got out of the car and went inside.

"You guys go ahead and order," Julie said. "I'm going to the ladies' room. You coming, Annabeth?"

"Sure," I answered before turning to Percy. "Just get me the usual."

"Me too," Julie answered and we walked into the bathroom. Once we were inside, Julie closed the door and just looked at me.

"Well?" she prodded.

"What?" I asked. "You're the one who wanted to go to the bathroom. Don't you need to pee or something?"

"Of course not," she said like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "What was that?"

"What was what?" She was really starting to irritate me. I mean, seriously, why couldn't she just say what she wanted to?

"In the car! You know, with you and Percy?"

"You mean him telling me he wears boxers? I didn't know you were listening and I'd really like to forget that information."

"Ugh," she stomped her foot on the floor. "You're so oblivious sometimes! He said that because he was nervous."

"Nervous?" I asked. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, the guy who had saved the world on his sixteenth birthday getting nervous around one of his best friends? "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Didn't you see how red his cheeks were when we got out of the car? He was rambling whatever came to mind because he was nervous and then he realized he made a fool out of himself."

"But why would he be nervous around me? We've been friends for years."

"Guys don't get nervous around girls who are just _friends_; they get nervous around girls they like, and are probably even in love with."

"That's crazy," I told her. "Percy-" I was cut off as a stall door creaked open and I looked at Julie. We had forgotten to make sure no one else was in the restroom before we started talking.

"Hello, Annabeth," the girl sneered as she came out of the stall. My eyes widened in horror as I looked at her. I opened my mouth, but no words would come out. This was like a scene from my worst nightmares. Shelby had never liked me, but she could, and probably would, make my life an absolute living hell with this kind of information.

"What do you want, Shelby?" Julie asked.

The girl shrugged innocently. "Nothing. Of course, I know what other people want." She looked right at me and smirked. Oh, yeah, I was going to get it.

"Leave her alone," Julie stepped forward. "You don't have to be such a-" This time, her phone cut her off and I didn't have to remind her about her language (not that I would have anyway). Julie slipped her phone out of her pocket and was about to press the ignore button when I stopped her.

"You can take it," I told her.

"But-" she started, but then nodded. "Are you sure?"

I nodded and she walked out of the bathroom. This was my fight, and while I appreciated Julie standing up for me, I needed to take care of this on my own.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm going to help you," she said softly, sounding nice for once. I laughed and shook my head.

"Seriously, Shelby, I know you hate me, so just get it over with."

She shook her head. "Annabeth, I never hated you. I just…didn't want you to get hurt."

I snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious." She got closer, and looking into her eyes, I almost did believe her. "I was trying to keep you away so you wouldn't get your heart broken, but you just wouldn't back down." She paused and started walking in slow circles around me. I felt like I was under a microscope and tried not to let her know how uncomfortable I was.

"Annabeth, don't get me wrong, Percy does love you, but only as a _friend._ You're just…" she paused for a moment as if looking for the right word. "Not good enough for him."

"What do you mean?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. _She's just trying to mess with you. Don't fall for it! _I tried to listen to the voice in my head, but maybe Shelby was right.

"Boys can be pigs," she said softly. "And you…" She shrugged like she didn't want to say it and I couldn't help myself.

"Percy's not a pig," I said a little shakily. I wasn't quite sure of anything at the moment.

"Well, he's not necessarily trying to be one, but he can be sometimes. Like the fact that he chose me, someone he's only known for a few months, over you, the girl he's known for years. Face it, Annabeth, you're just not good enough for him."

I felt like the air had been knocked out of me. Not good enough? I'd been through so much with him and even saved his life. How could I not be good enough for him?

"Of course, if he sees what he wants on the outside, I'm sure he'll realize how much he loves you for who you are." She paused and looked me straight in the eyes. "I can help you become irresistible and there's no way he could avoid you then."

"What's in it for you?" Her offer sounded great until I remembered that helping me would mean she would be pushing herself down, and no one, especially not Shelby, would be willing to do that.

"I'm moving to Oklahoma next month to get ready for college. Percy is great, but there's no way I'm going to be able to have a long distance relationship with him. I figured I might as well help you out before I leave. Of course, I'm sure there are plenty of other girls who would love to-"

"Okay," I gave in. "What do I have to do?"

She smiled and the light in her eyes was almost scary. "I thought you'd say that. Hmm, where to start?" She began circling around me once more, picking up strands of hair and studying my face. "Your hair is really frizzy, your clothes are horrible, and boy, do you need some makeup!"

"I thought you said you would help me," I said, trying to block out the words she was saying.

"Don't worry; I'll drop off some supplies at your house later today, all right?"

"You know where I live?" I asked, suddenly a little freaked out.

"No, you need to give me your address," she said, pulling a pen and notepad out of her purse and handing them to me. I hesitated for a moment. Did I really want to give my worst mortal enemy my address? Surprisingly, I decided to do it. Sure, she was mean, but she was also beautiful and Percy's girlfriend.

"Okay, great! See you later." She patted me on the shoulder and left.

I turned towards the mirror. I wasn't fat, right? No, I was perfectly fine. And who cares if I don't wear any makeup? That didn't make me any less pretty than Shelby. I left the bathroom, feeling a little less sure of myself than I had before.

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There's chapter 2! I hope you liked it! Ideas are welcome and helpful. Review! Please and thank you! :D


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I hate the original version of this chapter, so I decided to rewrite it and make it less OOC. I hope it's better!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

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I dumped all of the contents of the box onto my bed and rummaged through them. Shelby had dropped it off after school and left it on the porch with my name on it. I hadn't told anyone about my encounter with Percy's girlfriend except Julie, who had knocked some sense into me.

"She's a liar," Julie had said. "There's nothing wrong with you. She's obviously jealous of you and wants to bring you down to her level so you're no better than she is. Next time she talks to you, let me know."

Of course, I had agreed and told her that I would tell her whenever something came up, but she hadn't known me long enough to tell when I was lying. I didn't feel right about making Julie fight my fight. I knew she wasn't afraid of getting in trouble for doing something to Shelby, but I didn't want to put anything on her record. Looking down at the objects in front of me, I was pretty sure that Shelby wasn't going to get to me.

High heels, a straightening iron, loads of makeup, about ten pairs of hand-me-down clothes that she'd probably only worn once. Yeah, there was no way that was happening. Then my eyes landed on a bottle of something that I lifted slowly to examine. Pills. She wanted me to do drugs? Then I read the label and realized they were pills to help you lose weight. Did Shelby seriously think I was fat?

I couldn't help but get up and look in the mirror. I turned sideways and lifted my shirt slightly. My belly looked pretty flat, considering how often I ran and fought monsters. My bedroom door suddenly opened and I jumped, smoothing my shirt out to keep whoever it was from figuring out what I was doing.

"Annabeth," my stepmom said as she looked at me. "Dinner's ready."

"I'll be down in a minute," I told her as she went to get my brothers. I moved over to my bed and quickly threw all of the things Shelby had dropped off back in the box. Shelby was stupid. I wasn't fat and there was nothing wrong with me.

"So when should we get together to study for the physics test?" Julie asked as we walked through the hallway to the front of the school. It was the end of the day and we had just finished track practice. The guys had done really well at their last meet and their coach let them have a few days off from practice, so Percy wasn't there to take me home like he usually did.

"How about tomorrow at my house," I suggested and she nodded. "Hey, do you think the cheerleaders are done with practice?"

"They'll probably be out in a few minutes. Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell Shelby to get her junk from my house. She dropped off a bunch of stuff after school yesterday and there's no way I'm going to use any of it."

"What kind of stuff?" she asked curiously.

"Girly stuff like a straightening iron, makeup…" I trailed off, deciding not to mention the pills. If she knew the extent of what Shelby was trying to get me to do, she would beat the girl up right away and not care about the consequences.

Julie laughed. "You? Wearing makeup? Yeah, that's not going to happen." She looked at her cell phone. "Anyways, I have to go; my dad's out front already. Give Shelby my best." She smirked and we went our separate ways.

Finding Shelby wasn't hard. The cheerleaders were finishing up practice in the gym and I waited on a bench outside the door until they were done. They were taking forever to get dressed, so I pulled out my cell phone to text a few people.

_Hey. What's up? _Percy replied just a few seconds after I sent out the message.

_Nothing much just doing some homework. You? _I didn't want to tell him about waiting to talk to Shelby. Actually, I never told him about how horrible his girlfriend was. Shelby and I had put on a bit of a charade every time he was around and pretended to get along. He really liked her and I was afraid he would take her side if I told him I hated her.

_Just watching TV. _He replied. _Aren't you still at school?_

_No, Coach Foils let us go early today and my dad was already there when I came outside, so I'm home._ I didn't want to make him feel bad about not picking me up. Honestly, I didn't mind walking home and I didn't want to ruin his day off by making him come get me.

_That's very unlike him._

_Yeah, but he's not all that bad. So whatcha watching?_

_The, uh, cooking channel. My mom put it on and she won't let me change the channel. _

I laughed and started typing a reply when the sound of a door opening made me jump. I looked up to see Shelby looking at me expectantly and slipped my phone back in my pocket.

"I see you didn't take my advice," she said matter-of-factly.

"Nope," I told her as I stood up. "Listen, Shelby, I really don't want to be someone I'm not just to get Percy to like me. If he doesn't like me for who I am then oh well." Wow. I wasn't sure where those words came from, but they sounded pretty good.

Shelby laughed. "That's cute, Annabeth. If that's what you want to believe, then I'll leave you alone. Who knows, maybe he'll finally come around after all these years. Anything can happen." Her phone started ringing and she pulled it out from her purse. "Hello?... Oh, hey baby! You're here?... All right, I'll be out in just a minute… Okay, I love you, too."

I stared openmouthed as Shelby hung up the phone. Was Percy really here to pick her up? Why would he go out of his way to get her from practice when he picked me up all the time? And then he'd said he was at home watching TV with his mom. Why would he lie about that? And since when did he love Shelby?

"Sorry, Annabeth, I have to go. My ride's here. Anyways, like I was saying, he could come around, but you can't just keep waiting around for him forever. Maybe you can find another guy who likes you back. Or you can try to help push Percy along a little bit by changing your looks up for a while. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up leaving me for you. See you later."

With that, she walked down to the end of the hall and went outside. I couldn't help but run after her once the door closed. Percy wouldn't lie to me so he could be with his girlfriend, would he? I looked through the window and felt my heart drop as she got into Percy's car and gave him a kiss on the cheek before they drove away. I waited a little while to make sure they were gone before I started walking home.

So he _had_ lied to me. Sure, it shouldn't be a big deal that he took his girlfriend home instead of one of his best friends, but it really hurt. Why would he lie to me about it? And if he lied about something this small, what else had he been lying about? I pushed the thought from my mind as I took out my iPod and continued walking.

* * *

"'Maggie is trying to figure out the length of a telephone pole, but she can't reach the top of the pole to measure it. She has a rope that measures 70 feet long that goes from the top of the pole to the ground eight feet from the bottom of the pole. How long is the pole?' What kind of question is this? Obviously, Maggie had to get to the top of the pole to get the rope up there in the first place, so why didn't she just measure the telephone pole?" Trevor asked as he worked on his homework.

"Maybe the rope was already there," Julie said as she took a bite out of her apple. We were sitting at the lunch table at the moment, eating lunch from the pizza line. Occasionally, the school food wasn't too bad and it was much cheaper than eating out.

"What I want to know is why she wants to measure a telephone pole in the first place. Doesn't she have anything better to do?" Percy put in as he looked at his friend's paper.

"Math is stupid," Trevor stated as he put it back in his binder and into his backpack.

"But it is important," I told him as I finished my pizza slice. I had to use math all the time when I worked on designing new buildings and statues for Olympus.

"She's right," Percy said. "What if you need to find out how long a telephone pole is and you can't figure it out because you didn't do your math homework?" They all laughed and I picked up my bottled water to hit him over the head with it.

"Ouch," he complained, rubbing the spot where I'd just hit him.

"I'm serious," I told him. "Math can be really useful."

"I'm out of here," Trevor said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack. Of course he'd leave once I started talking about something in school being useful in real life. "You coming, Juls?"

"Actually, I should probably be getting to the library." She stood up and grabbed her empty tray.

"Why do you want to go to the library?" he asked her. "You're dyslexic."

"I know that," she sounded irritated as he pointed out the obvious. "Just because you're the only one of us who isn't doesn't mean you can pick on me. And I'm not going there to read. I have to work on a project."

"Okay, whatever you say. I'll be outside if you guys need me." And with that they left Percy and I alone. We were both quiet for a while as we finished up our lunches.

"Do you ever wonder about Julie?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know, I mean she's dyslexic, like us. How often do you meet kids with dyslexia who only have one parent?"

"It can't be that rare. Plenty of kids have single parents now days and not all dyslexic kids have to be," I paused and looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "Like us. Julie just seems really down to earth and as far as I know, nothing strange has happened to her. Besides, the gods promised to claim their kids by the time they're teenagers and it's only been two years. I seriously doubt they've already broken it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Honestly, now that he brought it up I was a bit unsure. The gods have so many kids and "forgetting" one wouldn't be that difficult, even after their promise. I watched as he took sip of water and thought about what Shelby had told me the day before and in the restroom. I knew he wasn't a pig like she had said, but then he had lied to me about being at home when he was picking up Shelby.

"Percy," I said, unable to stop from asking the question that was on my mind. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

His eyes got big and he started choking on his water. Oh, great. This was a big mistake. I watched as he recovered from shock and didn't look into my eyes.

"Why, uh, why do you ask that?"

"I was just wondering," I muttered, looking down at the table.

"Well, um, I-" he was cut off as Trevor ran up next to him.

"Dude, there's this huge fight going on outside! You've got to come see it." Percy got up and followed him without looking back at me. I noticed how red his cheeks were as he hurried away and felt so stupid. What was wrong with me? For so long, I had tried to refrain from ruining our friendship and one question could possibly have messed it all up. I knew what I was going to do next. As much as I still hated Shelby, Percy liked her for a reason. It was time to try out Shelby's plan.

* * *

This could get interesting... Please review and let me know what you think! I'm thinking about having a chapter from Percy's POV later on as a special treat if you guys give me some feedback ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, so I really want to finish editing this story so everything can make sense and I can get on with Better Than Revenge and my other stories.

Be sure to read the bottom of the page for info on a contest I'll be having!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

* * *

"Come on, Annabeth. You can do this," I told myself aloud as I picked up the eyeliner. I'd never actually put makeup on myself before, but I'd seen the Aphrodite girls do it tons of times and it couldn't be that hard, right? I glanced down at my phone to check the time and realized that I had a text from Percy.

_Be there in 20. Running a little late._

_Okay. _I replied. I guess that gave me more time to get ready. I picked the eyeliner back up and brought it to my face as the last bit of doubt left my mind. Yep, I was going to do this. I was actually doing pretty good at lining the bottom of my eye when my door burst open and I jumped, accidentally drawing a crooked black line down my cheek. I turned towards the door angrily, wondering why someone always had to barge in when I was doing something.

"Annab- whoa!" my stepmom flinched at the sight of my face before she broke into a fit of laughter. Great. Just what I needed.

"It's not that funny," I told her as I tried wiping off my face. The line smeared a little bit, but it didn't go anywhere.

"I'm sorry," she said as she calmed down. "I didn't know you wanted to start wearing makeup. Does this have anything to do with that friend of yours?" She wagged her eyebrows suggestively and I glared at her. She held her hands up in surrender. "Forget I asked. Do you want some help?" She closed the door behind her and walked over to my new makeup kit. She actually wanted to help me? That was new.

"I have just the thing for this," she said, pointing to my cheek. "That is, if you'll let me help you." I couldn't help but smile. Oh, what the heck? She couldn't make my face look any worse than it already looked. I nodded and watched as she hurried off to her room to get some makeup remover. I spent the next fifteen minutes being her Barbie doll as she fixed my face.

"I didn't know you had a straightening iron," she said as she picked up the one Shelby had dropped off from the top of the box. She plugged it in and set it down on the counter.

"No way," I told her as I started putting my hair in a ponytail. "That's not going to happen."

"Oh come on, Annabeth! It will be really pretty!" I picked up my cell phone and slid it into the pocket of my new skinny jeans.

"My ride's about to be here."

"Well, at least wear it down. There's no point in dolling up if you're going to leave your hair like that." She pulled the hair tie from my hair before I could protest and pushed me towards the mirror. Honestly, I was surprised. I was wearing a cute dark blue top with jeans and black flats and my hair actually looked kind of pretty down.

"See? You're beautiful!" my stepmom patted my shoulder before leaving to get the boys some breakfast. I heard a honk from outside and knew it was time to go. I took one last look at myself before grabbing my backpack and rushing downstairs.

"Just a minute, young lady," my father's voice interrupted me before I could open the door. I sighed and turned to look at his shocked face. "You need to eat breakfast." I was glad that he didn't mention the way I looked.

"I don't have time," I told him as I turned back around.

"Yes, you do," he answered sternly. "Your friend can wait a minute."

I didn't want to give him a chance to tease me or try to question Percy again. "We're going to eat at school today. We, um, have a project to finish up. Can't keep him waiting. Bye!" I left before he could stop me and ran down the driveway to the street where the familiar car was parked. I felt a little nervous, but I didn't want to give my dad a chance to come out. I froze in my tracks when I saw who was sitting in the passenger side of the car. Shelby. Wonderful.

It looked like they were in the middle of an argument, though I couldn't hear what it was about. I thought about going back inside, but Shelby noticed me and gestured for me to get in. I smiled halfheartedly as I got into the backseat. Percy avoided looking at me and kept looking out his window as he started the car and drove away.

"Someone looks nice today," Shelby said as she glanced back at me in the mirror after she put on her lip gloss. I guess Percy got curious because he looked in the mirror and nearly rammed into the car next to us.

"Doesn't Annabeth look great today?" Shelby asked Percy. I could have sworn I saw her wink at him.

"She looks like you." He sounded really irritated. Had I done something wrong? They had been arguing before I got in the car, so maybe he was just mad at her right now. Everyone was silent for the rest of the ride, making it pretty awkward. Honestly, I would have rather walked if I had known it was going to be like this. I jumped out of the car as soon as we got to school and hurried away before anything happened. I started heading towards the school and looked back to see both of them still sitting in the car.

"I don't think I've ever seen him get angry," Julie said from beside me. I wasn't sure where she had come from, but I guess she had been waiting in the parking lot for me. "You know, most relationships end when people have an argument like that." She nudged me teasingly and then looked me over, seeming to notice my new look for the first time.

"You're wearing makeup. And your hair is down. And what's up with that outfit?" she asked suspiciously.

"You don't like it?"

"Don't brush this off like it's nothing. This isn't like you. You always…" she trailed off as she figured it out. "Shelby. Of course. Annabeth, didn't you say you were going to give it all back to her?"

"I know. I just couldn't help it." I shrugged, deciding she could figure out the rest on her own.

"Annabeth," she sighed. "You know you don't have to change yourself. When the right guy comes along, he'll love you for who you are. Who knows, it could be Percy, or maybe it will be someone else. Just be yourself."

"I know, Juls, I just… I don't know, I think this might work. Maybe it will be the push he needs to make a move."

"I guess it won't hurt to try." She shrugged. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

I smiled and nodded. "I'll try my best." Before she could say anything else, I heard someone laughing and turned to see Percy and Shelby walking hand in hand. I turned back to Julie, who gave me a reassuring smile, and we walked to the doors of the school.

* * *

Percy avoided me for most of the day, seeming annoyed. It's not that I really had tried to talk to him, but he usually walked with me to second period and whenever Ms. Lima let us choose partners, he always picked me without question. Today, he didn't meet me in the hallway after biology and I waited for a few minutes, wondering where he was. By the time I realized he wasn't meeting up with me, I was already late to English. Ms. Lima made me go to the office to get a pass and when I got back, Percy was already working with a girl named Molly. The bell for lunch had just rung and there was no way he could get away from me now.

"Hey," I said as I sat down at the table across from him. He acknowledged me with a slight nod before returning to his conversation with Trevor.

"So will you go with me or not?" he asked. Trevor seemed to consider this for a second.

"I don't know, Perce, I'm not really a party person."

"Come on, Trevor!" Percy pleaded. "Shelby won't let me get out of this and you're the only person I can think of to bring. You said you weren't doing anything Friday night, so it's not like you're missing out on anything."

"I'll go with you," I offered. I wasn't really sure what they were talking about and I didn't like parties, but it couldn't be that bad, right? Besides, a party could be my chance to finally get Percy's attention. I'm sure I could find something party-appropriate from the stuff that Shelby gave me.

"I can't ask you to do that, Annabeth," Percy stated, finally looking me in the eye.

"Why not?" I asked. "You asked Trevor. And you didn't ask, I offered. It's not like I have anything better to do." Percy hesitated a second and I realized something. "You don't want me to go." It wasn't a question. By the look in his eyes, I could tell that this was the case.

"Well," he paused, trying to think of what to say. "It's not that I wouldn't want you to come, I just wanted Trevor to come. You know, it could be awkward with you and Shelby there together."

"How is that any different than you being there with Trevor?" I asked, starting to get angry.

"It's not! I mean- ugh! I just don't want you hanging out with Shelby, okay?"

"Seriously? You've been a jerk to me all day because you don't want me to hang out with your girlfriend? Are you afraid I'll rub off on her or something? Trust me, you don't have anything to worry about." I picked up my tray and put my backpack on my back quickly. I wasn't going to just stay there and be humiliated in front of my own friends. Maybe there was an empty table outside.

"No, that's not it! Annabeth, wait-" he started, but I was already walking away. Part of me hoped he'd come running after me like in the movies, but this is Percy we're talking about. I ran into Julie on the way to the door.

"Hey," she said. "Where are you going?"

"Outside," I told her. She studied my face for a moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Go sit at the table. I'll be all right."

"Okay. Remember, if you need to talk, I'm always here."

"Thanks Julie," I smiled. We said our goodbyes and I started walking again, only to be stopped by Shelby. After the argument I'd just had with Percy, I didn't really want to talk to her, but I gave her a chance to speak her mind before yelling at her, too.

"Hey, Annie," she smiled. I grimaced at the nickname, but she didn't seem to notice. "Loving the new look. Well, I didn't come over to compliment you, but I wanted to invite you to a party at my cousin's house. It's this Friday night and you know who will be there." She winked at me. Huh, so now I was invited. Interesting. I couldn't help but glance over at the table with my friends at it to see Percy, who had his head in his hands like he did when he was really frustrated. I smiled a bit to myself. He didn't want me to go. _Well, guess what, Percy, your girlfriend just invited me, _I thought to myself. Eh, what the heck? He's been rude to me all day. Why shouldn't mess with him a bit?

"I'd love to go," I told Shelby.

"Great!" she smiled. "I'll text you the details later, okay?" I gave her my phone number, starting to wonder if I knew what I was doing. A few days ago, I was trying to figure out how to get rid of this girl without the police finding out and now, we were kind of friends, in a weird way.

"Oh, hey," I said as an afterthought. "Don't tell Percy, okay?"

"I won't," she smiled. "It will be a…surprise." I thanked her and continued walking. Gods, I really hope I know what I'm getting myself into.

* * *

So, I'm planning on adding a few more chapters between here and the rest of the story. How do you guys think it's going?

***CONTEST!* ** So, if you guys have read any of my other stories, you may have noticed that I've been starting to do contests. I love reviews as much as everyone else, and I don't really want to bribe you guys, but I thought of an idea that can be beneficial to everyone :)

So, at the moment this story has 291 reviews. Whoever leaves the 300th review will get their choice of having me write a oneshot for them of something that I have to approve of (I can't write about something I haven't read :P) or they will choose one of my stories that they really want me to update and I will post another chapter or two ASAP. The winner will also get to choose a few of their stories that they want me to read and I will review every chapter and recommend the story to others. If the 300th reviewer is anonymous or chooses not to accept the prize, I'll give it to the next reviewer. I don't care how many times each person reviews, either. Sounds like a good deal? I sure hope so! Let me know if you guys have any suggestions and whether or not you like this idea. If y'all like it, I'll continue it for Better than Revenge and my other stories. Thanks! You guys rock! :D


	5. Chapter 5

It's party time! Lol :) The party is in this chapter, so yeah. I think I'll be finished editing this pretty soon, so it shouldn't be too long til I update Better than Revenge again.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

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Annabeth's POV

The rest of the day passed by pretty slowly and I did my best to avoid Percy all day. I even asked Julie for a ride home so I wouldn't have to sit in the car with him. I wasn't completely sure why I was avoiding him- whether it was because he didn't want me at the party or the fact that he obviously didn't like my new look. Or maybe it was just because he started avoiding me first. No matter what the reason was, I didn't want to talk to him.

Shelby texted me the details later that night and I spent at least an hour trying to find the perfect outfit for the party. Nothing felt right, though. Everything was the wrong color or too skimpy or just not me. I laughed a bit at that last thought. Of course it wasn't me; none of it was. That was the point.

By the next day, Friday, I had gone through each outfit at least twice and still hadn't picked one out. I forgot to ask Julie to pick me up the next morning, so I was stuck riding with Percy to school. He tried to talk to me, but I made it obvious that I was still upset.

"Look, Annabeth," he finally said when we were almost at school. "I'm sorry about the whole party thing. I wasn't trying to offend you, it's just that I don't really want you to go and get caught up in that crowd. They aren't exactly the best group of people."

"Then why are you going?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot.

"It's complicated," he sighed. "You're my best friend, Annabeth. It may not seem like it at times, but I really care about you and I don't want you to be like them."

I nodded slowly, unsure of what to think. He had apologized and explained why he didn't like that I've been dressing like Shelby. I felt kind of bad about the whole party thing and decided I probably shouldn't go. He must go to those parties all the time with Shelby and maybe he really _was_ just trying to protect me.

At lunch, I found Shelby at her table with her friends. She stood up when she saw me and grabbed her bag.

"Annabeth, I'm so glad you came over here," she said as she dug through her bag. "I need to give you this for tonight."

"Look, Shelby, I've thought it over and I don't think I should go to this party tonight."

She made a pouty face and looked disappointed. "Aw, Annie, I was really looking forward to you coming and I know someone else was, too." She gestured towards my friends and winked.

I sighed. "I wish. He made it very clear to me yesterday that he doesn't even want me coming near you or that party."

"Don't worry, Annie, I know he didn't mean it. You want to know a secret?" She leaned in towards my ear and lowered her voice. "He doesn't want you to come because he's afraid. He thinks he'll start having feelings for you and he doesn't know what to do about it. Once you're there and look completely hot, trust me, tons of guys will be all over you and he'll get jealous. He'll be begging you to go out with him by the end of tonight."

"I don't know, Shelby," I said uncertainly. "Percy isn't really the jealous type. And I'm not hot."

"Oh, trust me, he will be tonight. And you are going to look almost as hot as me. _Almost._" She smiled as she pulled a red dress out of her bag and held it up to me. It was strapless and a little short, but other than that, it was beautiful.

"Wow. There's no way I can pull that off, Shelby."

"Nonsense," she smiled. "I'll pick you up tonight at five and take you back to my place so we can get you ready, okay?"

"But, Shelby I-"

She held up her hand. "No buts! You're going to look drop dead gorgeous tonight. Percy won't know what hit him." She smiled and put her dress away. "See you tonight?"

I hesitated for a second. Oh, what the heck? My parents already thought I was hanging out with Julie tonight, so I might as well just go.

"Okay, but don't come inside. My parents think I'm hanging out at Julie's."

"Ooh, someone's being a bit naughty by sneaking out." She smirked and picked up her bag. "Sounds great. I'll text you when I'm a few minutes away. See you later!" I watched her walk away and wondered what I was doing. Was this really the best idea? Well, it was a bit late to be having second thoughts. I shrugged and headed towards an empty table.

"Annie!" Shelby hollered before I sat down. I turned around to see her standing up and waving her arms. "Come here!" I hesitated before walking over to her table. When I got there, I stood and looked around uncertainly. What was she doing?

"Don't sit by yourself," she said as she gestured to an empty seat at the corner of the table. "Sit with us." I looked back to where my friends were sitting. They were all laughing and didn't even seem to notice I was gone. Still, it didn't feel right.

"Actually, I need to go make up a math test I missed last week, but thanks for the offer."

"All right," she said as I walked away. Now I had to go find somewhere to spend the next half hour without Shelby knowing I had lied. I decided to just grab my lunch and eat outside. The air felt really nice and I wondered why I didn't eat out there more often.

"Okay, so what's up?" I looked up to see Julie slide down the wall and sit next to me. She had a half eaten sandwich and a bottle of Gatorade in her hand. "This is the second day in a row that you've ditched us at lunch and Percy is acting weird. What happened?"

I sighed. "I don't know. He's been acting different ever since I changed the way I look and yesterday I overheard him talking to Trevor about some party. I offered to go with him, but he didn't want me there." I shrugged. "That's about it. He said he doesn't want me getting mixed up in that crowd, but I'm not really sure."

Julie patted my shoulder. "Look, Annabeth, I know that he hurt your feelings and he can be a real idiot at times, but he really cares about you and he'd never say he doesn't want you somewhere unless he really had a reason. Honestly, I don't know why you'd even want to go to that party. There's just going to be a bunch of idiots getting drunk 'cause someone's parents are out of town."

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I still wasn't completely convinced, though.

* * *

The ride to Shelby's house was very awkward, to say the least. Three of her friends, Blaire, Francesca, and Sam, were there too and I was stuck in the back seat between two of them as we Shelby drove. At first, they were all talking about their boyfriends and other girly stuff, but Shelby seemed to notice I wasn't saying anything. She took pity on me and turned on the radio, but that only made things worse. They all sang along for the next ten minutes and I don't think I'll ever look at Justin Bieber the same way again.

"Here we are, ladies," Shelby announced as we pulled up at a large brick house. As far as I knew, she didn't have any siblings, so I wasn't sure why they needed such a big house for three people. We piled out of the car and I was just glad that I didn't have to listen to them sing any longer. As we followed Shelby to her room, I started to wonder what I was doing there. These were exactly the kind of people I made sure to stay away from and now I was hanging out with them and going to a party, which would probably have alcohol and drugs.

When we were in Shelby's room, the other girls started getting ready and I just stood there uncertainly.

"Oh, come on, Annie!" Shelby said as she pulled her dress out of her gigantic closet. "Don't you know how to get ready for a party?"

"Um, not really," I admitted.

"Oh, my gosh," Blaire's jaw dropped. "This is your first party?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so."

"You're so innocent! I guess we have to corrupt you." I laughed uncertainly, but she looked completely serious.

"It's okay, Annie," Sam told me. "I'll help you with your hair and makeup if you want. Shelby, where did you put her dress?" Shelby gave me my dress and I went to change in the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and could hardly recognize myself. This was not something I would ever wear. I couldn't even imagine what I'd look like when Sam finished with me.

"Ooh!" Blaire said when I walked back in. "Great choice, Shelby!" Francesca looked irritated and I figured she didn't like the fact that I'd suddenly joined their group. I guess I couldn't blame her. I waited as Sam straightened her long dark hair and put makeup on her already perfect face. Finally, she finished up and started on my face. When she finished, she picked up her straightening iron and I freaked out.

"No, it's all right," I told her. "I'll leave my hair alone."

She shrugged. "Whatever. I guess you're done, then."

"Wait," Shelby said as she pulled a necklace out of her jewelry box. She came behind me and chained it around my neck. I looked down and saw a pretty silver locket in the shape of a heart. "It looks perfect with that dress."

"Thanks," I told her. Blaire found a black pair of heels for me to wear and I put them on. She wanted to paint my nails, too, but there was only so far I was going with this act. After about an hour of sitting down awkwardly as the other girls finished up their hair and makeup, Shelby announced that it was time to go.

"What is she even doing here?" I heard Francesca ask Blaire as we were walking downstairs. She didn't even try to whisper, so I assumed she wanted me to hear. "She's a dork. We're not running a charity here."

"She seems nice, Fran," Blaire told her. She was known around school as the dumb blonde girl who had already dated half of the football team. Francesca, on the other hand, was the raven haired mysterious girl who thought she was better than everyone else. I guess that would explain why she didn't like me.

"Guys, just shut up," Sam told them. Honestly, I wasn't sure why she hung out with them. She was really smart and seemed pretty down to earth. But as I would soon find out, she was much more of a party girl than anyone I knew.

After a few horrible songs on the car ride to Shelby's cousin's house, we arrived at the party. It was a little after nine and it was already packed. I found Percy before we even walked in. He was sitting on the porch and doing something on his phone, probably playing a game. He looked bored, like he didn't want to be there. I started to head towards him, but Shelby grabbed my arm and shook her head.

"Don't," she warned. "If you go up to him yourself, you'll look desperate. Go inside and hang out for a bit and wait until he sees you. I'm going to go talk to him." She pushed us inside and stayed on the porch. The music was blaring and I had to hold my ears when we walked through the living room. Everyone was either dancing or drinking and I really wished I'd stayed at home. Francesca went straight to her boyfriend and started making out. Sam went onto the dance floor and started dancing like a crazy person.

"Please don't tell me you're leaving, too," I begged Blaire. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and felt uncomfortable when two guys walked by and whistled.

"Don't be silly," she smiled. "Come on. Let's go out back." She led me out to the back porch, where the music was much quieter.

"Hey," Steven, a popular guy at school who usually didn't even look at me, was standing next to us. He was smiling at me and I was confused. So, now people who had ignored me for months were suddenly talking to me? Interesting. "You want something to drink?" He handed me a plastic cup in his hand and I shook my head.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Come on, Annie!" Blaire encouraged as she took the other cup from his hand. "Loosen up a bit."

"I don't know," I told her uncertainly. "I'm not much of a drinker."

"Well, someone else is." She pointed through the window where Percy and Shelby were standing in the kitchen. He was laughing and took a swig from a cup like the one Steven was offering me. "Or are you too good to drink anything?"

"Give me that," I told Steven as I grabbed the cup from his hand. They both smiled at me as I took a sip. I scrunched my nose at the taste and wished I could spit it out.

"It tastes horrible," I complained. "How do you guys like this stuff?"

"You'll get used to it," Blaire laughed. She looked back through the window. "Quick! He's looking!" I quickly chugged down the rest of my cup until Blaire said he wasn't looking. There was no way this was going to end well.

* * *

Oh, no! Don't drink it, Annabeth! Lol anyways, I'm thinking about having a short chapter from Percy's POV next. :)

Anyways, **1 review left** til we have our next contest winner!


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter is dedicated to Goddess Of Writing, who won the contest for my story Living Hell. Be sure to check out her stories!

I apologize in advance if I didn't portray drunk people correctly. Luckily, I don't think I've ever seen a drunk in person, so I just based this off of what I've seen on movies and whatnot. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

* * *

Percy's POV

I sighed as I looked at the clock once more. It was a little after eleven and this party was so boring. Everyone else seemed to be having a great time, but I didn't see how they could have so much fun getting drunk and bursting their eardrums.

I was sitting on the front porch where, luckily, the music was much quieter. I had no idea where Shelby was, as usual, but she would get mad if I went anywhere. I was supposed to sit around and wait for her until she wanted me to make an appearance for whatever reason. Honestly, I was getting so tired of the charade that I was considering telling her it was over. Of course, I wasn't ready to face the consequences of that yet, so that was out of the question.

The door opened and I looked up to see a drunk couple stumbling out the door. The girl started giggling and she fell into a bush. Her boyfriend got next to her and they started making out. I looked back at my phone and tried to ignore the sounds coming from less than a few feet away. I felt like I wanted to puke. _That's it, _I thought as I got up. I went inside and plugged my ears as I looked for Shelby. There was no way I was staying there. I found Francesca in a corner making out with her boyfriend.

"Hey, Francesca," I shouted over the music. "Have you seen Shelby?" She was shooing me away with her hand as she gripped her boyfriend tighter. "Guess not." I was heading back to the front door when I heard the chanting from the kitchen.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Probably just another group of idiots getting drunk. Then I saw a familiar face and groaned.

"Oh, gods," I said as I made my way over to my friend. What was she doing here? I told her not to come. Annabeth was, unfortunately, the one they were cheering for. She had a red Solo cup in her hand and was chugging down the contents. Somehow, I doubted it was soda. I snatched the cup from her hand and she scowled at me.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "I was on a roll."

"Hey, give it back!" some people were complaining and I ignored them as I threw the cup in the trash.

"Come on," I told her as I grabbed her hand and led her to the front door. She stumbled along and waved goodbye to her new friends.

"Percy!" Shelby's annoying voice stopped me. "Where are you going?"

"What the heck, Shelby?" I turned and asked her, ignoring her question. "Why did you bring Annabeth here?"

"Oh, you didn't want her here?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You know I don't like you hanging around with her! Why won't you just leave her alone?"

"But I'm you're girlfriend, Percy," she faked a smile. "Don't you think I should be friends with your best friend?"

"Look, I made a deal with you and Annabeth wasn't part of it, so stay away from her."

Shelby snorted. "You're forgetting something, _baby._ I can tell her our little secret any time you like."

"Be my guest. She won't remember it in the morning, anyways, thanks to you."

"Whatever," she walked away and I turned back to Annabeth, who was talking to some guy I'd never seen before.

"Percy, this is Walter," she said. "Walter, this is Percy. Oh my gods! You two are both guys! Are you, like, twins or something?"

"Come on, Annabeth," I told her as I grabbed her arm.

"Wait! Walter said he wants me to come into this room with him. He found the way to Narnia!" I looked at Walter, who was smirking at me and obviously was one of the few sober people here. I felt my hands turning into fists at the way he looked at Annabeth.

"Come on, man," he said. "Let her stay. I can take her home later. If you want, I'll help you score a girl."

Before I could stop myself, my fist was flying through the air and he stumbled backwards as it hit his face. He held his most likely broken nose and stared at me in disbelief. "I don't think so, Walter. Come on, Annabeth." I grabbed her hand and led her out the door before anything else happened.

"Why were you drinking?" I asked as we walked to my car.

"I saw you with a cup of beer, so I tried it."

"What? Annabeth, I wasn't drinking alcohol. I had a cup of Coke."

She gasped. "Drugs are bad for you, Percy. Don't do drugs." I sighed as I strapped her into the passenger seat of my car and walked around to the driver's side.

"Don't take me home," she told me. "My dad's gonna kill me!" She started laughing, though I have no idea what part of that sentence was so funny. At a stop light, I pulled out my phone and dialed Julie. Maybe she would know what to do.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Juls, it's Percy. I have a bit of a problem here."

"What's wrong?

"Is that Julie?" Annabeth asked from next to me. "Tell her I said hi! Hi, Julie! Hi! This is Annabeth! Do you think she knows it's me?" Suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she stared in front of us. "Cheeseburger man," she whispered fiercely. Whatever the heck that was supposed to mean.

"Oh, gosh, she's drunk?"

"Yup."

"I told her not to go to that stupid party! I hate Shelby so much."

"Wait, you knew about this?"

"Yeah, she told me yesterday, but I had no idea she would actually go to it. Sorry, I guess I should have tried harder to convince her to stay home."

"It's not your fault. Anyways, Annabeth doesn't want me to take her home, so any ideas?"

"Sorry, Perce, I'd love to babysit her for you, but my little cousins are in town and I have to watch them. I don't think their parents will be too happy if my drunk friend stays the night, too."

I sighed. "It's all right. I guess I'll take her home with me. I just need one favor."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to text her parents that she'll be at your house tonight. If they call, tell them she's asleep or something."

"Sure."

"Thanks, Juls."

"Glad to help. And good luck with Annabeth." I glanced over at my friend to see her smiling at me and not even blinking. It was actually kind of creepy.

"Thanks. I'm going to need it." I hung up and dialed my mom's number. It was almost midnight, but she would probably still be up watching some old romantic movie.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Mom."

"Oh hi, Percy. What's up? Are you coming home yet?"

"I'm on my way. I have a bit of a problem, though."

"Oh, dear, have you been drinking? Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"No, Mom, I'm not drunk. A friend of mine is, though, and I was kind of hoping..." I trailed off, unsure of how to ask permission to let my best friend, who also happened to be a girl, to sleep over when she's drunk.

"Oh, he can stay over if his parents know. I can go find your old sleeping bag, if you want."

"No, Mom, it's fine. I think I'm going to let her sleep in my room."

"_Her? _Percy Jackson, I am not going to give you permission to sleep with a drunk girl tonight!"

"What? No, Mom, that's not what I meant! I'll sleep on the couch and Annabeth can sleep on my bed _without _me."

"Annabeth?" my mom asked in disbelief. "You're telling me that _Annabeth_ _Chase_ is drunk?"

"Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe it either. Shelby and some of her friends tricked her into drinking some beer and I didn't even know she was there until it was too late. Her parents are going to be so mad at her if she shows up at home like this."

Mom sighed. "Yes, of course she can stay, but you'll have to find some way to contact her parents to let them know she's okay."

"I've got it covered. Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, sweetie. Love you."

"Love you, too. I'll see you in a few minutes."

When we pulled up at my apartment, Annabeth was completely knocked out. Her mouth was open and she was drooling slightly. I shook my head and fought the urge to laugh as I lifted her up in my arms. I closed the door with my leg and started walking up the stairs. I kicked the door lightly and was relieved when my mom opened it.

"Wow," Mom said as she followed me to my bedroom. "She's really out of it."

"I know," I told her. "She's going to regret this in the morning." Mom turned my bedroom light on and I laid Annabeth down on the bed. She hardly even stirred as I pulled the heels off of her feet and covered her up with blankets. I found her cell phone in the purse that Shelby had no doubt given to her and sent a text to her dad.

_Staying at Julie's tonight. I'll get a ride home tomorrow, so don't worry about me._

I looked up and sighed as I watched her sleep. I was the reason she was in this mess, so I would have to be the one to fix it. I think it's finally time to end things with Shelby.

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Sorry, I know it's a bit short, but this was the first and most likely last chapter we'll be seeing from Percy's POV. Hope you liked it. Don't forget to check out Goddess Of Writing's stories!

Next contest winner will be the 325th reviewer!


	7. Chapter 7

And now it's time for another update! Whoo! :D Oh, and just FYI, I decided to do the contest a bit differently this time around, so read the note at the bottom of the page if you're interested ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

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Annabeth's POV

I woke up with a horrible headache and a sick feeling to my stomach. Light was streaming in through the window and it was way too bright to be any earlier than noon. I sat up and the world spun around me. I held my head and tried to remember what happened the night before. Did I really get drunk? Wait a second... _This isn't my room, _I thought as fear swept through me. A pair of boxers was lying on the floor by the door. Did I do something that I would regret? Whose house was I at?

"Oh, gods," I muttered as bile rose to my throat. I got up and ran for the door that I somehow knew was the bathroom. The seat was already up, so I just had to squat down in front of the toilet before throwing up.

"Ugh," I groaned when I was finished. I sat back and held my head, which was still spinning. How was I going to fix this? Did I say anything embarrassing last night? And who did I go home with? Was there any chance I was pregnant? The thought made me want to puke again, but I had already emptied my stomach of all of its contents.

"Hey." I looked up and sighed in relief when I saw Percy. I knew the room seemed familiar. He slid down to the floor next to me and handed me two pills and a glass of water. "Mom said this should help with the hangover." I gratefully swallowed them and gulped down the glass of water.

"Thanks," I told him. I hope it won't take too long for them to kick in. "Hey, did I do anything embarrassing last night?"

"Well," he thought for a minute. "Besides attempting to swing on the ceiling fan, prank calling your dad, and doing some very old dances from the '80s on the kitchen table, no, nothing embarrassing. I did get most of it recorded, though, so if you'd like to watch-"

"What?!" I shouted, making my headache worse. I winced and lowered my voice. "You can't be serious. Why didn't you stop me? Oh, my gods what if everyone at school knows by now? My life is going to be ruined and-"

"Whoa," Percy put his hands up. "Relax! It didn't happen exactly like that. I may have stretched the truth a bit."

"You mean you lied."

"Well, if you want to put it that way, then- OW!" He rubbed his arm where I had just punched it and winced. "What was that for?"

"You're a jerk." He shrugged and smirked.

"I couldn't help it. It's not every day that your best friend goes out and gets drunk and crashes at your house."

"Yeah, and don't plan on it happening again." I stood up slowly and Percy got up next to me. I looked down at my clothes and scowled. It was bad enough when I was just wearing Shelby's dress, but now I was also wearing some mysterious stain and even some puke that hadn't made it into the toilet.

"Well, that's gross," Percy stated.

"Thank you, captain obvious," I said. I grabbed a wash cloth from the cabinet and started cleaning off the front of the dress. Shelby was going to kill me for ruining her perfect clothes.

"Oh, gods," I said as a thought hit me. "My dad is going to be so mad at me! He's probably been calling all night and I'll be grounded for the rest of my life when he finds out I got drunk."

"No, he's not," Percy reassured me. "I took care of it. I told him how you got tired after studying with Julie and stayed at her house." He smiled and I was overcome with the urge to hug him.

"Thank you," I said as I threw my arms around him. He could be an idiot at times, but Percy was really the best friend a girl could ask for.

"Um, Annabeth?" he said as he stiffened.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"No offense, but your breath reeks and you're kind of getting puke on me." I stepped back and realized he was right. Oops.

"Sorry," I said as I started wiping at it. Luckily, only a little bit had made it to his shirt, but still.

"It's okay. I never liked this shirt much, anyways." I stepped back and, without warning, he started taking his shirt off. I felt like we were in one of those movies where the guy takes off his shirt and keeps trying to have a normal conversation while the girl nods and tries not to stare at his muscles. I mean, seriously, were guys just that stupid or did they do it on purpose? It wasn't like Percy was a bodybuilder or something, but years of sword training and fighting have definitely paid off.

"...and you can go first." he offered as he set the shirt down. I looked up and honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I said you can take a shower first and I'll go make us some lunch."

"Lunch?"

"You slept through breakfast."

"Oh," I said. _Don't look down. Don't look at the muscles. Focus on his face. Stare into his eyes...not the muscles. _I squinted my eyes and brought my head up so I could hardly see them even in my peripheral vision.

"Uh, Annabeth? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I laughed and tried to act casual as I leaned against the wall, only to realize I was further away from it then I had thought. I stumbled and nearly fell down, but I was able to catch myself. I smiled and tried to pretend that hadn't just happened.

"Okay," he said slowly with his eyebrows scrunched together. "You can wear this when you get out." He picked up a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts that I hadn't even noticed were on the counter and handed them to me. Boy was I out of it.

"Well, I'm going to go now..." He gave me another confused look before leaving the bathroom and closing the door.

"Nice going, Annabeth," I mumbled as I locked the door. Maybe next time I should start drooling or just shout to the world that I love him. Yeah, I wasn't exactly the best at hiding my feelings, so it's a good thing he was so oblivious. Either that or he was a really good actor... You know what? I think I'll just with my first assumption and stop thinking so much.

I spent the next half hour or so in the shower washing away all of the gross smells of last night. That's the last time I go to a party with Shelby. When I finally finished, I got dressed in the clothes that Percy had left me. Once I had them on, I realized that they were kind of baggy and had to be his clothes. I'm not sure what I was expecting since it was just him and his mom here, but it took me by surprise. I couldn't find a hair tie, so I had to leave my hair down, which was pretty irritating. I hated when it got in my eyes all the time, but I had gotten used to it over the past few days.

My head felt much better, though it still ached a bit. I was just thankful that I wasn't throwing up anymore. Speaking of which, my stomach was actually grumbling, which kind of surprised me after how upset it was earlier. I went out to the kitchen hoping to smell a nice home cooked meal and chocolate chip cookies. That sounded so good at the moment, but of course that wasn't going to happen. Sally was at work and Percy was making lunch, which meant we were going to eat cereal or he was about to burn the apartment down in an attempt to actually cook.

"Hey," I said when I walked in. His back was facing me and I looked over his shoulder. "Sandwiches. Wow, Percy, this is a huge step for you."

"Hey," he said defensively as he finished putting the slices of bread together. "I make a mean bowl of cereal, you know."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I _do _know seeing as that's the only thing I've eaten at this house in the past six years."

"Not true. Remember that time when I made Ramen noodles?"

"You mean when _I _made them for us after you admitted that you couldn't read simple instructions."

"Well, okay, how about when I made chocolate chip cookies when we were thirteen?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember. The smoke alarm went off because you left them in too long and we couldn't figure out how to turn it off."

He scoffed. "You know what? I know for a fact that I made a pot of oatmeal a few months ago and it turned out perfectly fine."

"Really? That's your crowning achievement? A pot of oatmeal?" I asked. He gave me an irritated look and I couldn't help but laugh. Percy smiled and we put the supplies away in the refrigerator.

"Okay, so you're a bad cook," I told him. He opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off before he could say anything. "You know it's true. But, hey, you're good at other things."

"Like what?" We grabbed out plates of food and headed over to the dining room table. I sat down next to him and watched as he took a bite.

"Lots of stuff," I said honestly. "You saved the world, for crying out loud! Not many people can do that."

"I didn't do it alone. Everyone would probably be dead if you weren't there."

"Percy-"

"Look, I don't want to be rude, but can we please talk about something else?"

"Uh, sure. Like what?"

"I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders and took another bite of his sandwich. "How about last night?"

"Oh." Well, that's not what I was expecting. I was really hoping he would just forget about it. "Well, as you know, I don't exactly remember much."

"That's not what I meant. Why did you go in the first place?" He stopped eating and looked completely serious. Oh, gods, had I slipped up? I probably mentioned my feelings for him while I was drunk.

"Well," I started. "I don't know, I guess I was kind of mad that you didn't want me to go. Shelby talked me into going and I agreed."

Percy shook his head and sighed. "I wish I could get her to just leave you alone. She drives me nuts sometimes."

"That's Shelby for you."

"Yeah, well try not to let her get to you, okay? You're perfect the way you are."

I snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm being serious." He smiled and set his hand down on mine. My heart started pounding faster in my chest and I swallowed the piece of sandwich I had been eating. He was so close and I wanted so badly to just close the distance between us, only I couldn't. I was frozen on the spot, looking like an idiot. Before I had the chance to talk myself into kissing him, he cleared his throat and stood up awkwardly.

"Well, I'm going to go take a shower now. You can just do...whatever and I'll go to my room. Unless you want to go in there- my room, I mean. I could go to my mom's bathroom so you don't have to see me get naked or anything. Unless you want to." His cheeks were really red and he seemed nervous for some reason. "Go in my mom's room, that is. Not see me naked 'cause that's just...yeah, I'm just going to go to my room." He turned and hurried away without giving me a chance to say anything. Well, that was weird.

I decided to go to Sally's room and call Julie from my cell phone. Maybe she would know what to do in this situation. Once I got a hold of her, I explained everything and she was about as shocked as I was.

"Oh, my gosh," Julie was saying. "He really said you were perfect?"

"Yeah, he did. And then he grabbed my hand and we stared at each other for what felt like forever."

"Did you kiss?"

"I wish."

"Did you tell him about your feelings for him?"

"I wish I could. It doesn't feel right when he's with Shelby. I don't know, maybe when he breaks things off with her I'll talk to him."

"Whoa, you mean he told you he's breaking up with that witch? It's about time!"

"Well, not exactly. He said she irritates him and they fight all the time, so I'm pretty sure it's coming."

"But what if he doesn't dump her? You need to get in there while he's upset with her so he'll realize how much better you are than Shelby."

"Good point," I admitted. "But what if he doesn't like me that way and I ruin everything?"

"Come on, Annabeth, have a little faith! Of course he likes you and I'm willing to bet he's probably even in love with you. I don't know what it is, but you've got that one thing that makes him tick and that's what makes you beautiful in his eyes."

"Julie, are you quoting song titles at me?"

"Listen to what I'm saying. Stand up and just tell him "You stole my heart! I want you to see that I can love you more than this! I don't want to stay up all night and keep making the same mistakes that we always make! Everything about you is wonderful and I want to save you tonight from that b-""

"Julie!" I cut her off midsentence. "Do you really have to quote One Direction song titles to get your point across?"

"I can't help it. They're all so amazing!"

"Okay, I understand that, but can we get back to the problem at hand?"

"You need to tell him, Annabeth. What's the point of putting it off until later on when he actually starts getting serious with her?"

"You're right. I need to do it before it's too late." I cracked open the door slightly to see if Percy was out of the shower yet. He was pacing back and forth and talking on his cell phone.

"Stop it, Shelby! I'm so tired of your stupid excuses!" he was yelling. I closed the door as quietly as possible, though it wasn't necessary. Any shred of confidence Julie had just given me was gone.

"I can't do it," I told Julie. "He's really mad."

"Perfect. Go in there and do your thing."

"I don't know, Julie, are you sure? What if you talked to him, you know, to see if he likes me or something?"

"Sorry, Annabeth. No can do. It's gotta be you."

"Shut up," I told her as I hung up. Through all of that One Direction crazy fan speech, what she said actually did make sense and I knew it was time. I was as ready as I'd ever be to tell Percy how I felt about him, so why put it off? I put my hand on the door and turned the knob. _Please don't let this turn out as horribly as I think it will._

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Is Annabeth going to tell Percy the truth? :O I know Annabeth seemed a bit OOC with that whole muscles thing, but hey, I thought I'd throw that in there to make things more interesting. After all, she is a teenage girl with a crush on a guy so why wouldn't she act like any other girl in that position? ;)

Seeing as One Direction is a band, no one actually owns them, so obviously I don't :P They're super awesome though and I wish I knew them well enough to say I at least own the songs, but once again, I do not. My sister and I are in the process of plotting a way to meet them...

**Contest update: **I want to do things a little differently this time. A very special person's birthday is coming up in about a week and a half (today is Sunday August 19). The first reviewer to guess the correct person will get the next one shot ;) Keep in mind, this person is famous, so you can look it up online or whatever but each person only gets one guess per review (please don't list like 50 famous people in hopes of getting one right). I don't care how many times you review as long as there's only one guess in each one. Good luck! ;)


	8. Chapter 8

I have a really long author's note at the bottom of the page, so I'm not gonna put one here :D

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

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Annabeth's POV

"I don't want-" Percy was shouting into the phone. "No! Can you just stop sticking your nose into my business for once? I'm so sick of putting up with you! I'm done!" My eyes widened as I realized what I had just witnessed. Did Percy just break up with Shelby? Just like that?

"Oh, really? You're going to use that against me again? Well, I don't care anymore! Just do it! Tell the whole world, for all I care! Whatever was left of us is now over!" He hung up his cell phone and sat down on the couch. I watched as he put his head between his hands in frustration. Maybe now wasn't the best time to do this.

No, I couldn't back down now. Shelby would find someway to get right back in the middle of things and ruin it all again. I had to tell him how I felt before that happened. I started walking forward and felt my hands shaking as I got closer. _Just do it, Annabeth, _I thought.

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to him. "Was that Shelby?"

He snorted and looked up at me. "Is it that obvious?" He looked angry and I almost wanted to back down, but I decided to stop thinking and just say it.

"So you guys are officially broken up, right?" I asked. He shook his head and looked irritated.

"I don't know. It's complicated."

"It doesn't have to be."

"Oh, trust me. That's the only way with Shelby."

"I meant," I stopped to take a deep breath. "I meant without Shelby. You can just break up with her and make life so much easier."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Annabeth, I really don't want to talk about this right now." No way. This was not happening. I had finally worked up the nerve to talk to him and he doesn't even want to let me say anything? Well, that's just too bad for him.

"You never want to talk about this! Why can't you just break up with her? You hang out with me way more than you do with your girlfriend and you two are just arguing half the time!"

"Annabeth," he warned. "Just drop it." Yeah, right. I was mad now and wouldn't back down until I got my point across.

"I'm not going to drop it! Shelby's a horrible person and everytime I talk to you about it, you seem to think the same thing! Why do you stay with her? Is it because you think she's hot? I thought you were a better person than that. She's not even a half-blood! What's the point in dating her when it won't even work out?"

"Do you seriously think I'm that shallow?" Percy stood up and started yelling even louder. Honestly, I think he sounded even more angry than when he was on the phone with Shelby. "I don't even think she's hot! Shelby is just a stupid slut who wants everything to go her way and lately you've been acting just like her!"

My jaw dropped open and I just stared at him in shock. Did he seriously just say that? His face softened as he realized what he had just said.

"Annabeth-" he started.

"You think I'm a slut?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, really? Because that's what it sounded like to me." My voice cracked and I felt tears forming in my eyes. I stood up and started towards the door. I couldn't let him see me cry.

"Wait!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Let go of me!" I shouted as I shook his arm off of me. I snatched my cell phone off of the table and went straight for the door.

"Annabeth! Can we please just talk?" I ignored him as I walked out of his apartment and slammed the door behind me. I hurried down the nearest staircase and only then did I realize I was barefoot. The shoes I had been wearing earlier were Shelby's stupid heels. It wasn't too late to go back and get them, but I refused to do that. I would look like an idiot and I didn't even want her heels. Percy could give all that junk back to his stupid girlfriend and explain the puke stain on his own.

I started heading towards my house, but the sidewalk burned my feet. The grass was much cooler, though the occasional rocks and twigs stabbed at my skin. Before it was out of sight, I couldn't help but glance back at Percy's apartment complex. He was probably inside doing whatever he does in his free time. He didn't even bother to run after me and apologize. I had taken my time walking and he could have caught up if he wanted to.

_Who cares? _I thought. He obviously thinks I'm just a piece of trash and doesn't want anything to do with me. It took a second for me to realize tears were rolling down my cheeks and they irritated me. Why was I crying? It shouldn't matter what he thought of me.

But it did. And no matter how angry the tears made me, they wouldn't stop. Sure, Percy and I have had arguments in the past, but they never lasted long and were never serious. He's never said anything that made me feel so horrible. I've never even had a boyfriend or tried to throw myself at guys and now my best friend was calling me a slut. How does that even make sense?

My phone started buzzing in my hand and I looked down at it, half expecting it to be Percy calling to apologize. Of course, I was wrong. Not that I would have answered anyway. It was Julie, probably calling to see how things went. I really wasn't in the mood for explaining, so I pressed "ignore".

While I was staring at my phone screen, I stumbled over something and nearly fell over. A lady with a young boy gave me a strange look before picking up her son and hurrying past me. Considering I was wearing baggy clothes and no shoes, I couldn't really blame her. I probably looked like a homeless person with emotional problems.

It took me about twenty minutes to walk home and I tried my best to pull myself together before I went inside. I really wasn't ready to listen to my dad ask questions about where I was last night and why I was wearing a guy's outfit. The situation would be even worse if I was crying when I walked in. As I stood on the front porch, I took a deep breath and reached for the door knob. Before I could turn it, the door swung open and I saw my step mom standing there.

"Oh, good," she said as she walked past me. "You're home."

"Watch the boys while we're gone, Annabeth," my dad said as he pushed me out of the way. "Don't let them get into any trouble." I watched them get into their SUV and drive away. I couldn't believe it. Did I really just get off the hook? Maybe I should have been grateful, but I actually felt worse. Dad didn't even notice what I was wearing, much less that I was crying. I don't think he even looked at me.

"Whoa. What happened to you?" It was Bobby.

"And what are you wearing?" Matthew. "You definitely didn't spend the night with Julie last night."

"Why do you guys even care?" I pushed past them and went straight up the stairs to my room. My feet were sore and probably covered in cuts and filth, but I ignored them as I closed my door and laid down on my bed. The tears came on full force and before I could help it, I was sobbing. I went in there planning on telling him I loved him and he thought I was a slut for trying to get him to break up with his girlfriend. After all that we'd been through together over the years, he didn't feel the same way about me as I did about him.

_He didn't love me._ The realization hit me like an oncoming train. Percy didn't love me.

* * *

Aw that's so sad :( Why would Percy do such a thing? Don't worry, it will get better :D Oh and sorry it's short, but this was just kind of a transition chapter and I really wanted to give you guys some kind of update.

**Contest update:** Okay, so no one guessed Liam Payne from One Direction as the last contest answer, but that was it. He turned 19 on August 29 and I was hoping I might have some Directioners reading this story, but I'll have to think of something else next time. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to put these contests on hold for a little while. I know, I'm sorry, but I'm really busy with school and I want to be able to keep up with my stories, as well, but it should only be for a little while. Anyways, I hope you guys still want to review and read my stories! Thanks guys!

Oh, hey, did you guys hear that Alexandra Daddario (aka Annabeth in the PJO movies) FINALLY dyed her her blonde. Yay! I'm hoping the next one won't be as horrible as the first and at least her hair won't bother me anymore. What do you guys think?


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, so I felt that it was necessary to include another chapter from Percy's POV because…well, because it was just necessary. :P This will probably be the last chapter from his POV, but maybe I'll write more later on if you guys like it. Hopefully, it also gives a few hints about what's going on with Percy and Shelby. Enjoy!

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Percy's POV

"Come on, Annabeth," I muttered as I stared at my phone. She hadn't replied to any of my texts and had ignored me all day. I felt like a total jerk, but what more could I do? I was just tired of her avoiding me and not giving me a chance to apologize. As far as I knew, she didn't have a ride home after track practice, so I was waiting outside of the locker room for her to come out. She was usually one of the first girls finished, so I was kind of surprised that she wasn't out yet.

"Percy!" Oh, no. I had completely forgotten about Julie. While Annabeth was busy avoiding me, Julie was constantly trying to chase me down and I knew why. She was mad at me and I was sure she would beat me up, so I had done my best to stay away. Unfortunately, she was in track, too.

What could I do? She started walking towards me from the gym doors and no one else was in the hall to save me. She walked slowly, but her hair was pulled back in a rare ponytail and sweat covered her hairline. Somehow, that made her look so much more intimidating, so I did what any guy in my place would do: I turned and ran.

"Percy Jackson!" Julie called as she chased me down the hall. "Percy! I know you hear me!" I heard her running faster and tried to speed up, but she grabbed the collar of my shirt and yanked it. I don't know how I had expected to outrun one of the fastest girls in track.

"What?" I asked as she jerked me around to face her.

"Don't you "what" me! You know exactly what I want to talk to you about. What did you do to Annabeth?"

"What makes you think I did something?"

"You've spent all day running away from me, Percy. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't." Darn it. I guess I wasn't a very good ninja.

"Idiot," she rolled her eyes.

"Is Annabeth okay?" I asked.

"Lets see. She spent the weekend crying her eyes out and now she's acting like nothing happened. Last I heard she was with you. That doesn't sound okay, you jerk." Before I even saw it coming, she slapped my cheek really hard, and I mean _really _hard.

"Ow!" I rubbed my face and then her words registered in my mind. "Wait, she was crying?" I asked. As if I didn't already feel like a total jerk.

"Like a waterfall, but that's not the point. What did you do? Did you say anything in particular that she could have taken the wrong way?"

"Uh..." I trailed off and stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. What was I supposed to say? She wouldn't understand.

"Oh, gosh, Percy, what did you do?"

"I might have possibly accidentally said something that I really regret."

"What did you say?"

"Well, I had just gotten off the phone with Shelby and I was really upset and then Annabeth came out and I didn't know what to do-"

"Just get on with it! What did you tell her?"

"I kind of implied that I thought she was a slut," I said slowly. "But it was an accident! And I didn't mean it at all! I was just mad at Shelby and it just slipped out."

"Oh, gosh, Percy! Why would you do that?"

"It was an accident! I swear! I would never try to hurt Annabeth, you know that!" She shook her head and sighed.

"Well, did you at least apologize?"

"Of course I did. Or, I tried to, I guess. She left my apartment before I could finish."

"Did you go after her?"

"Uh, no."

"Did you call her?"

"I don't see how this-"

"Answer the question! Did you call her at all since she left your apartment?"

"No, I didn't! Trust me, Julie, I feel like enough of a jerk without you yelling at me."

"Well, you should! Percy, she's really hurt. You have to fix this!"

"How? What am I supposed to do? I doubt she even wants to talk to me."

"Break up with Shelby! She's the reason why everything is going crazy with you two!"

I shook my head. "It's not that easy."

"Yeah, it is. Here, let me show you. Shelby," she said in a deep voice. "I hate you. You've ruined my life and I have feelings for someone else. Please take it personally. It's not me, it's you."

"I can't do it."

"Yes, you can!"

"No, I can't! I can't break up with Shelby! I want to, but I can't!" Why did everyone have to argue with me about this? First my mom, then Annabeth, and now Julie. Of course Shelby was awful; it would take an idiot to not see that.

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you. You'll talk to Annabeth and it will ruin everything."

"So, what's your plan? You're just going to be miserable for the rest of your life?" Oh, gods. When she put it that way, I just hated my life even more.

"Can we please just talk about something else? I want to catch Annabeth before she goes home."

"Don't worry, I'm her ride. She's not going anywhere until we're done here."

"Well, aren't we done?"

"I don't know," she said. "Are you ready to go apologize?"

"Yeah."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic. Are you ready?"

"I don't have time for this, Juls. Look, there she is! Annabeth!" I rushed down the hall, expecting to see her run away, but she didn't. She was walking really slowly and I caught up to her in no time.

"Annabeth," I said as I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "Look, I'm really- whoa, are you okay?" Her arms were wrapped around her stomach and she was bending over slightly.

"I'm fine," she said as her face scrunched up a bit. "Just a stomach ache."

"You don't look fine. Why don't you come sit down over here." I grabbed her arm, but she shook my hand away.

"No, no, it's fine. What were you going to say?"

"I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am about, you know, what I said. It was wrong and I didn't mean it. I was just really angry-not at you, of course, but-"

"Oh, gods," she muttered. She brought one hand to her head and closed her eyes. Her other hand reached for my shoulder to keep her balance.

"What's going on?" I asked. I was starting to freak out.

"My head," she mumbled.

"Are you okay?" _No, idiot, of course she's not okay! _I thought right after I said it. Oh, gods, what do I do? To my relief, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. Where were you?"

"Annabeth, I think you should sit down."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What's going on? Did you skip lunch? You shouldn't work out on an empty stomach."

"Of course I didn't skip lunch! Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, I mean I know Shelby has been hanging out with you and-" Annabeth gasped and doubled over. I tried to catch her, but she was on the ground before I could do anything.

"Annabeth!" I shouted as I squatted down next to her. Her eyes open and she was still conscious, but that didn't stop me from going into full on panic mode.

"Oh my gosh, Percy!" Julie shouted as she rushed over. "What the heck did you do?"

"Nothing! I didn't do anything!" She gave me an angry look as she wrapped an arm around Annabeth, who was still holding her stomach.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Julie shouted at the girls who were staring at us in shock.

"I'm fine," Annabeth winced.

"No, you're not," I told her. "Just try to relax." Oh, gods, oh gods, oh gods! What was I supposed to do? What the heck was even going on? Annabeth started taking a few deep breaths and sat back, but she still looked really uncomfortable. I offered my hand and she took it. For a girl who looked like she was about to pass out, she had a really strong grip. I suddenly remembered what we were talking about before this happened and felt the overwhelming urge to tell her.

"Annabeth, I need to tell you something."

"I don't think now is the best time, Percy." Julie gave me a look and it normally would have freaked me out if I didn't already feel so panicked.

"It's really important." Annabeth looked curious and I decided to go on.

"I'm serious," Julie warned just as I opened my mouth.

"Well, so am I! This is really important. Annabeth-"

"Move out of the way, son." I looked up to see two paramedics with a stretcher trying to get to Annabeth. Julie and I both moved to the side and watched as they lifted her up and strapped her in. They started taking her away really quickly and I hurried to catch up. Right before we walked through the door, I caught a glimpse of Shelby, who was standing off to the side with the other cheerleaders. Unlike everyone else, she had a slight smirk as she watched Annabeth being taken away and I balled my hands into fists. What kind of a sick person could be happy when someone else is hurt? I strode towards her and tried my best not to shout.

"What did you do?" Shelby looked at me like an innocent little puppy.

"What are you talking about?" She brought her hand up to my face and I swatted it away.

"Stop playing games. What did you do to Annabeth?"

"What makes you think I did something, baby?"

"Don't call me that! Answer the question!"

"Look," Shelby's voice became dead serious. "I didn't do anything. How could it be my fault that she got sick? If anything, it's your fault."

"What are you talking about?"

"Poor Annabeth," Shelby sighed like she actually cared about my best friend. "She never has been good enough for you, has she?"

"Stop it, Shelby."

"All I'm saying is maybe you should rethink the way you've been treating her lately. After what you've done, I don't blame her for what she did." That didn't sound good, at all. I really hoped she was just playing mind games. Still, I had to be sure.

"What did she do?"

"Oh, look," Shelby looked over my shoulder. "They're about to leave. You might want to go now." I followed her gaze and sure enough, the paramedics were already putting Annabeth in the truck. I glanced back at Shelby and cursed inwardly. She knew something that I didn't, but I didn't have time to figure it out.

"We're not done here," I said before I ran towards the door. Julie was in the middle of an argument with one of the paramedics when I got there.

"I need to get on," she was saying.

"I'm sorry, kid, but this is an emergency. We can't take friends along," the guy said.

"I'm not a friend; Annabeth is my sister! I need to stay with her! Or if not, you know, my dad is a lawyer. I'm gonna remember your face and as soon as he shows up, you might as well leave town! He won't stop fighting until you're living on the streets and have nothing left but the shirt on your back!"

The paramedic looked slightly intimidated, but more annoyed. "Okay, fine, just get in the truck." Julie didn't waste any time jumping into the back and checking on Annabeth. I started to follow, but the paramedic stopped me.

"Let me guess," he said sarcastically. "You're her brother."

"No, I'm not." Right after the words left my mouth, I realized what an idiot I was. They weren't going to let me ride if I wasn't family.

"Sorry, kid, we ha-"

"I'm her boyfriend," the words slipped out before I could stop myself. Where did that come from? "Please just let me on," I begged. The guy sighed and gestured for me to pass. I hurried up onto the truck and tried to get next to Annabeth, but the paramedics made us stand off to the side. One of them closed the doors and the one in the front started speeding away from the school. The siren seemed much louder from the inside than it did from the outside, or maybe that was just my nerves.

"I didn't know your dad was a lawyer," I said to Julie to distract myself.

"I didn't know you were Annabeth's boyfriend."

"Touché." I couldn't bring myself to carry on the conversation as I watched my best friend lay there in pain. She was obviously trying to stay calm, but the look on her face made it obvious that she was really hurting.

"Can't you help her?" I asked the paramedic who was talking to her. He glared at me with an irritated look on his face.

"You're telling me how to do my job?"

"Just do something!"

"Calm down, kid. Here, why don't you come talk to her?" I was grateful that someone was finally listening and hurried to Annabeth's side. She was staring up at the roof of the truck and breathing through some sort of mask that covered her mouth. I assumed it was giving her oxygen. I grabbed her hand and she smiled slightly as she looked at me.

"Well, this is different," she said. The paramedics were hooking her up to these different devices and I tried to pretend they weren't there, but everything was impossible to ignore. Annabeth was going to the hospital and according to Shelby, it was because of me.

"Do you feel okay?"

"I'm fine," she muttered, but her arms were still wrapped around her stomach like she had to hold herself together. I wished so badly that I could help her, but what was I supposed to do? I had some ambrosia at home, but she would already be in the hospital on morphine by the time I got back.

"This is my fault," I blurted out.

"What?" she asked. "What are-" She paused for a moment to yawn and her eyes started drooping. She started to say something, but it sounded like a bunch of gibberish.

"What?" I asked. Her eyes were completely closed now and her hand slipped from my grasp.

"Annabeth?" I asked. Oh, gods! She couldn't leave me! There weren't any monitors going off like they do in the movies, but I was still completely freaked out. I turned to the paramedics and started yelling. "What did you do? What's wrong with her?"

"Chill out, kid! She's only sleeping! You wanted us to help her, so I just gave her some gas that will knock her out for a while until we can get some morphine into her system and figure out what's wrong."

"Oh." I couldn't bring myself to say anything else. I looked down at Annabeth and realized how peaceful she looked. _She's only sleeping._

"She's gonna be okay," Julie said from next to me. I hoped she was right.

* * *

:O Oh no what's wrong with Annabeth? And what was so important that Percy needed to tell her? You guys will find out soon so don't worry well, at least what's wrong with Annabeth.

For those of you who have been waiting for Percy to get kidnapped, it's still coming! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it!

Have you guys read Mark of Athena yet? It's so amazing! Until the end, of course :P Rick Riordan has a bad habit of leaving us hanging. If you have read it, I'd love to read your thoughts on it, but please try not to say anything that will spoil it for everyone else

Oh! I know I keep talking (or writing, I guess) but I'm feeling chatty today and I have a lot to say. This is very important!

***Important info on the sequel*:** A bunch of people have left comments saying "Why the heck is there a sequel when you haven't even finished writing the first story? Who does that?" or something along those lines. I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned this to some of you and maybe even in a previous author's note, but I just want to make it clear that yes, I know this story is still in progress and no, I'm not crazy (at least not completely). I finished writing the original version of this story about a year ago and everyone seemed to like it, so I started writing a sequel. When I was thinking about ideas for it, I realized that there were lots of flaws in this story, so I thought I should fix this one before really getting into the sequel. I like this version much better than the original because I added more to the storyline that makes it interesting and the characters don't seem as OOC. I haven't taken down the first two chapters of the sequel because I didn't really think it was necessary, but I might do it if I need to, so please just understand that yes, I will continue the sequel as soon as I finish editing You Belong With Me. For those of you who love ruining the story by reading ahead, go on and read it, but I don't recommend it and there are only two chapters so far anyway, so I don't see much point in it.

Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying the story and thanks for your support! I love you guys! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Hey, guys! I know, I know, it's been a really long time since I last updated and I've been bored lately, so I figured I might as well write something. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

* * *

Annabeth's POV

"I told you, sir, it's not uncommon for teenage girls to-"

"Yes, but this isn't just any teenage girl. Annabeth is my _daughter. _She wouldn't do something like this."

"Well, maybe she hasn't been getting enough support at home."

"Are you suggesting that I'm a bad parent?" Hearing my dad yelling at some lady wasn't exactly my favorite way to be woken up in the morning. I didn't recognize the woman's voice, though, and something in my brain registered that they were arguing about me. Why? My dad hardly ever paid attention to me unless he thought I was getting into trouble. I didn't remember doing anything bad lately. They continued to argue and I tried my best to tune them out, only my dad's voice constantly grew louder. I groaned and brought my hands up to my ears, only something seemed to be caught on my arm. I opened my eyes and realized there were tubes going into my skin. What was going on? I took a quick glance around the room. White walls, a bunch of machines, a strange bed that definitely wasn't mine.

"Oh my gods," I muttered. I was in a hospital. How had I gotten there? What happened?

"You're awake." I whipped my head around to the left to see Julie sitting uncomfortably in a chair by a set of windows. Next to her, Trevor was completely knocked out, his head thrown back on the top of his chair as he snored like an old man. Julie stood up and walked over to me.

"Sorry about the arguing," she said. "I tried to calm him down, but I only was able to get them to leave the room." I nodded and tried to remember what had happened, how I ended up in the hospital. I realized then that Julie's eyes were puffy, like she had been crying recently, and she was avoiding my gaze. The look on her face was something like guilt, but I wasn't sure why. Surely, she wasn't the reason I was in the hospital.

"So," I broke the silence. "What am I doing in the hospital?"

"You don't remember?" Her eyes were wide and she looked like she really didn't want to explain it. Suddenly, I remembered talking to Percy outside of the locker room and feeling like my stomach was exploding inside of my body.

"There was this horrible pain," I told her. "That's all I remember. What happened?" She started fidgeting with her fingers and looked down at them like she couldn't bear to look at me.

"Annabeth, you overdosed."

"Huh?" That didn't make any sense. I hadn't taken any medicine. "What are you talking about?" Julie opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted by my dad.

"Good, you're finally up," he said as he walked in.

"Dr. Chase," the nurse that he had been arguing with ran in after him and grabbed his arm to stop him, but he just shook her off.

"She's my daughter," he told her. "I have the right to talk to her."

"Oh, great," Julie mumbled, but he didn't seem to notice as he turned towards me.

"You! What were you thinking, young lady? Taking an overdose on pills! What's wrong with you?"

"What?" I exclaimed. "What the heck is everyone talking about? I didn't take any drugs!"

"Annabeth," the nurse said calmly before Dad could continue. "We know you overdosed on weight loss pills. There's nothing to be ashamed of; we only want to help." She gave my dad a look, but he didn't seem to notice through his anger.

"What? I never took any diet pills!" I was completely confused by the whole situation. Thinking back on it, Shelby had given me some diet pills when she dropped off the clothes the week before, but I never took any of them. But if I didn't take any pills, what was I doing in the hospital? It didn't make any sense.

"The tests don't lie, Annabeth!" my dad shouted. "Julie even found the bottle in your locker." I glared at Julie, who had a guilty look on her face. She muttered a barely audible "sorry" and looked away. "Five pills were missing from the bottle. Did you take all of those this morning? You could have died!"

"Okay, even if I did take the pills, I wouldn't take five at a time. I'm not an idiot! Can't you see that I'm being set up?"

"If you didn't take the weight loss pills, how did they get in your system?" my dad asked.

"Sir, please," the nurse intervened, trying to calm him down.

"Stay out of this! Answer the question, Annabeth."

"I don't know," I mumbled, realizing how hopeless my argument was. I never took any pills, but they somehow got in my body. How was I supposed to explain it to my dad if I didn't even know how it happened?

"Well, then, Annabeth, if you didn't take the pills, why did you have a bottle in your locker?"

"Those aren't mine!" I yelled. "I was going to give them back to Shelby, but I started feeling sick and completely forgot about it."

"So you got them from a friend?" my dad raised his eyebrows in question.

"No," I snorted. "Shelby isn't a friend."

"Then who is she?"

"She's Percy's girlfriend." I wasn't sure if they were really broken up or not, but I didn't know what else to call her using child-friendly words.

"Oh, so it's that boy now, isn't it?"

"What? No! Percy didn't do anything!"

"Did he say you were fat? Is he the one that made you take the pills?"

"No! No one made me take any pills!"

"You've acted so different lately. Did you think I haven't noticed all the new clothes and makeup? Are you trying to get someone's attention? Did you think overdosing on drugs would make you look better? Make you more popular?"

"No! Dad, I told you! I didn't take any pills! I swear!" I felt tears coming to my eyes and I tried my best to push them back. His eyes locked onto mine like he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. Finally, he shook his head.

"I don't know who you are anymore."

"Well, maybe you would if you paid more attention to me! All you ever do is pay attention to your new family! I don't even matter to you anymore!" A tear slid down my cheek, but I didn't bother to wipe it off.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," he said, completely avoiding what I had just said. "If you didn't take the pills, how did they get in your system?"

"I don't know! Someone probably drugged me or something!"

"Why would they do that?" His anger seemed to have vanished and he just looked tired now.

"I don't know!" Another tear fell as I realized he wasn't going to believe me. "Shelby! She must have done it! She's been pretending to be my friend for the past few days to get me out of the way!"

"Out of the way of what?"

"So she can have Percy to herself!"

"Percy," my dad repeated in disbelief. "The guy you have no feelings for."

"Yes! I mean, wait, Shelby has always seen me as competition, not that I am. She's always hated me. It makes sense!" He shook his head and turned towards the door.

"Dad, wait!" I shouted behind him. I stood up and started to follow, only to be reminded by a tugging on my arm that I was still attached to a bunch of machines. I turned around and started pulling everything out of my arm, not even bothering to be gentle.

"Hey!" the nurse, who I hadn't noticed was still in the room, grabbed my hand and stopped me.

"I need to get out of here," I protested.

"Calm down, Annabeth," Julie said as she hurried to stand next to me.

"Look, I honestly have no idea how those pills got into my system. Nothing is wrong with me! I just need to go."

"Annabeth," the nurse said as she gently pushed me back down on the bed. "It's okay to admit the truth. Plenty of teenage girls are self-conscious about their weight and looks. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You can join a support group, or go to therapy and pretty soon, you'll learn to be confident in who you are." I bit my lip and tried not to show how frustrated I was. Obviously, no one was going to believe me, so there was no point in arguing anymore.

"I just want to go home."

"Okay, I'll go talk to the doctor and see if you can be released yet. In the mean time, stay here and leave these alone." She pushed the needles back into my arm so fast that I barely felt the pinch as they went into my skin. The nurse gave Julie a look that seemed to say _keep an eye on her_ before she left the room.

"This is so messed up," I complained. As if my life hadn't already been bad enough before I was sent to the hospital for something I didn't even do.

"I'm sorry about all of this," she said as she sat down on the foot of the bed.

"It's not your fault, Juls. It was Shelby. It had to be." We sat there in silence for a few moments, thinking about this, when I realized someone was missing. "Hey, where's Percy?"

"He went home about an hour ago when your dad got here. He started yelling at Percy and blamed him for what happened with you. He really wanted to stay and talk to you, but I told him it would be a good idea to leave until your dad is gone."

"Oh," I said. I wasn't sure what else to say. In a way, this kind of was Percy's fault. The only reason Shelby was messing with me, and I was sure she was, even if I didn't know how, was to keep me away from Percy. Still, it wasn't like he asked for his girlfriend to act like a jealous maniac. A loud snore snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see Trevor, who was still passed out on the chair.

"Okay," I said in disbelief. "How did he sleep through all of _that?_" Julie smiled, but she still looked kind of upset. Just then, a thought hit me.

"Julie, you believe me, right? I mean, I know this looks really bad, especially after everything that happened last week, but I swear I didn't do this."

"I know," she said, but she still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Then why are you upset? You look like you want to cry."

"I just…" she took a deep breath, like she was trying to hold herself together. "I just don't see how someone could do something like this. I mean, you've never done anything wrong to anyone and they just think it's okay to set you up like this and humiliate you by putting you in a situation that you can't get out of. It's wrong."

I sighed. "Well, that's Shelby for you." She looked like she wanted to say something else, but the nurse came back in the room, cutting her off before she even had a chance to talk.

"Annabeth," the nurse said as she walked in. "The doctor wants you to stay overnight to keep an eye on you. If you're okay tomorrow, you're free to go home." I nodded and she left the room. I wasn't sure if I was upset about being forced to stay the night or relieved that I had an extra day before I had to face my dad again.

"I guess that means you're not going to school tomorrow," Julie said. "At least you don't have to worry about running into Shelby until Wednesday."

"And everyone else at school." I sighed. "I'm sure word's already gotten around that I'm some jealous, self-conscious girl who would change everything about myself for a guy." Julie smiled at me, trying to be reassuring, but we both knew it was true.

Oh, well, there was nothing I could do about that. Rumors would spread and I wouldn't be able to stop them, so I might as well enjoy my last night of peace, even if I do have to spend it in a hospital.

* * *

I wanted to end it on a happier note, but I have to get off the computer and I really wanted to post something. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, and things will get more interesting then. J


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